Who we are and what we do

About us

Good Sweet Earth is an all-organic soil amendment and fertilizer company, family-owned and operated in Zeeland Township, Michigan. We offer personalized full-service soil care for your yard and garden, lawn fertilization, as well as a variety of hand-crafted soil composts and fertilizers for sale. Our mission comes from our family’s own desire to stop putting chemicals into our garden and lawn year after year, and now we want to spread our fertilizer as far and wide as possible.

At the foundation of every product and service we offer are worm castings– nutrient-rich, chemical-free worm castings. We raise tens of thousands of red wiggler worms on a diet rich in nutrients and minerals (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, egg shells, coffee grounds, coconut coir), they compost it, and it becomes a living breathing conditioner for your soil.

FAQ

WHAT IS GOOD SWEET EARTH’S LAWN TREATMENT PROGRAM?We offer Worm Tea applications—either twice per year or six times per year, depending on your soil’s need as well as your budget. We also offer slow-release organic fertilizer applications twice per year—you can opt for one in the spring or one in the fall, but for better results, we recommend one in the spring AND fall. Read more about our lawn treatment plans on our Services page.

WHAT IS WORM TEA?Worm Tea is a microbial soil drench, which can benefit your lawn, garden and potted plants— basically anything growing in soil. Soil needs living microbes to break down dead organic matter. We brew our tea with rich organic Worm Compost (vermicastings), black strap molasses and fresh water drawn from our own west Michigan aquifer. When the microbes from the compost are introduced into your soil, they convert the dead organic matter found there into nutrients that your lawn and garden need—notably nitrogen. The organic matter they feed on could be anything from dead leaves to compost to grass clippings to our fantastic slow-release fertilizer. Which leads us to our next question…

WHAT’S YOUR FANTASTIC SLOW-RELEASE FERTILIZER?Slow-release fertilizers are great because they actually feed the soil—and the microbes living in it. Our slow-release organic lawn fertilizer is made up of a special blend of alfalfa, bat guano, Worm Compost and kelp extract. When applied in tandem with our Worm Tea, this will provide healthy and safe nutrients for your lawn for 6-8 weeks. There’s a longer residual effect with our slow-release organic fertilizer than you get with fast-release chemicals. Fast-release fertilizers give your lawn a jolt of color and growth, but the after-effects are brutal to the turf and dangerous to the environment. Our natural fertilizer actually makes your turf and the environment healthier. And your kids and pets won’t have to “Beware of chemicals!”

WHAT’S WRONG WITH JUST USING FAST-RELEASE SYNTHETIC CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS?Fertilizers like Scotts are meant to simply pump concentrated nutrients into your grass for quick results. Problem is, synthetic fertilizers are made from chemicals that kill beneficial microbes, thus sterilizing the soil. Plus those fast-acting fertilizers cause your turf to flourish above-ground at the expense of your turf’s root system. Finally, when there’s no microbe population breaking down dead organic matter on our lawns, we get the dreaded thatch.

Our planet’s soil supported healthy plant life for millions of years without chemical assistance, so there’s no reason we have to use chemicals now—other than the fact that the chemical industry tells us we need to. Our soil and yards would be much healthier—not to mention our kids and pets—if we all went back to the fertilizers created by nature, instead of using the ones created by chemists in a lab.

HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST?Our prices are comparable with chemical fertilizer companies. But long-term, the savings will be priceless because your yard will actually be healthy and sustainable. We put all of our prices up on our website for you to see, and you can find them here. The cost of a service package depends upon the size of your yard. For pricing purposes, we’ve broken yards into three sizes: Small (less than 6,000 sq ft), Medium (6,001-12,000 sq ft) and Large (more than 12,000 sq ft).

HOW WILL I BE BILLED?Many of our customers choose to pay up-front. We offer a satisfaction guarantee, so if you want to stop your service at any time, we’ll refund a percentage of your unused payment. We can also set up a plan consisting of four installments. The first payment will be due when you initially sign up, and the other three will be spread out evenly throughout the summer and fall. We will e-invoice you so you can quickly, conveniently and securely make a payment online.

DO YOU TAKE CREDIT CARDS?Yes, we accept all major credit cards (Master Card, Visa, American Express and Discover), as well as debit cards that have one of those logos. We can either scan your card safely and securely when we’re out at your house applying treatment, or invoice you via email so you can pay online.

CAN YOU GIVE ME A HEADS-UP BEFORE TREATMENTS?Absolutely! When you sign up for a lawn treatment plan, we’ll give you a schedule for the whole season in April. You’ll always know when we’ll arrive, before we arrive!

HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN YOU TREATED MY LAWN?We leave a monthly newsletter on your door letting you know we’ve been there. We note the date, time and how many applications you have left for the season.

WHAT CAN I DO BETWEEN FERTILIZER AND WORM TEA TREATMENTS TO MAKE SURE MY LAWN IS HEALTHY?Good question! First, set your mower to its highest setting. The roots mirror the turf’s blades, so if you keep your lawn too short, the roots won’t ever have a chance to really take hold deep into your soil.Second, use a mulching mower. Or if you don’t have a mulching mower, just take the bag off your mower and let the clippings fall onto your lawn. When you bag up the clippings, you are throwing away valuable free fertilizer for your turf.

Third, water less and water deeper. Frequent and short waterings mean the water never really penetrates very deep into the soil. That also means your roots never penetrate very deep either. They’ll stay near the surface. But if you really let the water go deep once every 10 days or so, the water will infiltrate the soil deeper and provide a drink for those thirsty roots for days—but they’ll have to grow deeper to reach it!

Finally, stop thinking you have to have golf course-quality turf in your yard. That’s unsustainable and unhealthy. You don’t need chemicals to make your lawn pristine. If you treat it right, however, it will still be beautiful. If you see some weeds, pull them up by their roots, don’t spray them with Round-Up. If you have a couple spots of clover, enjoy the beauty of those little white flowers (or, if you dislike them, pull them up).

The best way to prevent weeds is to have healthy turf, and the best way to have healthy turf is to have healthy soil.

MY LAWN ISN’T GREENING UP AS FAST AS MY NEIGHBOR’S CHEMICALLY TREATED LAWNS – WHY?Good Sweet Earth feeds the soil – those nasty chemical fertilizers feed the plant. Fast-release synthetic chemical fertilizers release their nutrients immediately, creating an “explosion” of growth and green on your neighbor’s lawn. But our organic fertilizers are derived from natural plant sources which break down much slower and provide healthier and sustained shoot and root growth. Organic lawns get green and stay green over a longer period of time than chemically-enhanced lawns.

CAN YOU GUYS HELP ME WITH MY GARDEN?Many gardeners make the mistake of over-populating their garden beds. They want this and this and this and this…but give no real thought to whether the soil is right, the sun/shade situation is appropriate, or how much space each plant needs in order to thrive. We’ve got years of experience and expertise that we’ll put to work for you, to help you and your family maximize your harvest. We’ll sit down with you to figure out what you want, prioritize family favorites, check out the topography and environmental conditions of your yard… and then we map out your garden, complete with planting dates. Contact Corey at Corey@GoodSweetEarth.com for more info. Or read more about our Garden Consultation Service here.

CAN I BUY YOUR PRODUCTS? LIKE YOUR WORM COMPOST OR WORM TEA?You bet! We sell our Living Worm Compost (the microbes and red wigglers make it “living!”) by the bag, and Worm Tea by the gallon, produced especially for you. We’ve also got specialty compost mixes and soil amendments for specific plants like roses and tomatoes. We’re always working on new products, so keep your eyes on our page for new stuff. You can read more about our products on our Products page (we'll arrange a convenient delivery), and in 2017, we’ll again be selling our stuff at west Michigan farmer’s markets, so stay tuned for more info on that!